The Complete and Unabridged Reason Why They Keep Changing the Dietary Guidelines Every Ten Years

In 1970, fat was the enemy. In 1990, fat was complicated. In 2000, carbohydrates became the enemy. In 2010, carbohydrates were complicated. In 2020, we were told to focus on “overall dietary patterns” — advice so general as to be immunized against being wrong, which is a new development in the history of dietary guidelines that I note with interest.

The Cycle

Every ten years, the guidelines change in a manner that requires the previous guidelines to be described as “incomplete” rather than “wrong.” This is a careful word choice. “Incomplete” implies progress. “Wrong” implies error, and error implies accountability, and accountability implies a reckoning — that the people who told you to eat margarine and then reversed that should perhaps answer some questions. No one has answered questions. The guidelines have changed. The cycle continues. The eggs are currently acceptable.

Who Benefits

I do not accuse anyone specifically. My method is to follow the funding. The dietary guidelines are developed by a committee. The scientists who conduct the review frequently have “no conflicts of interest to disclose,” which is a sentence that appears next to a section where they disclose their affiliations, and the affiliations are, in many cases, interesting. I have a binder on this. It has tabs.

Eat what your grandmother ate, before the guidelines existed. She made it to a reasonable age. The eggs were fine then. They are fine now. The canned goods, I remain uncertain about. — Reverend Cyrus Hale, Fed, carefully and in cash